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Abstract:
We report a study of the magnetic and electronic properties of the
non-centrosymmetric half-Heusler antiferromagnet HoPdBi (T-N = 2.0 K).
Magnetotransport measurements show HoPdBi has a semimetallic behavior
with a carrier concentration n= 3.7 x 10(18) cm(-3) extracted from the
Shubnikov-de Haas effect. The magnetic phase diagram in the
field-temperature plane has been determined by transport, magnetization,
and thermal expansion measurements: magnetic order is suppressed at B-M
similar to 3.6 T for T -> 0. Superconductivity with T-c similar to 1.9 K
is found in the antiferromagnetic phase. Ac-susceptibility measurements
provide solid evidence for bulk superconductivity below T-c = 0.75 K
with a screening signal close to a volume fraction of 100%. The upper
critical field shows an unusual linear temperature variation with B-c2(T
-> 0) = 1.1 T. We also report electronic structure calculations that
classify HoPdBi as a new topological semimetal, with a non-trivial band
inversion of 0.25 eV.
